Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is struggling a bit to adjust to life as a lobbyist.

“I took the Metro for the first time,” Lott told the Sleuth Thursday afternoon in the makeup room of MSNBC, where he and his new lobbying partner, former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), were fixin (as Lott says) to do a TV segment.

“He’s been standing in front of his house waiting for his car and driver,” laughed Breaux from the makeup chair, adding with a tinge of a low-country twang, “He’s learning how to hail a cab.” (Read: HAY-ul a cab.)

Life in the private sector isn’t as cushy as Lott thought it would be. No more free lunches, no more taxpayer-funded car and driver, no more overprotective press secretary guarding him from the pesky media…

…Lott really had no idea how to even go about taking public transportation. He didn’t know how to use the Metro fare card machines, or how much money to put on his trip ticket, or how to add money to one of the fare cards his wife gave him. Truly: clueless.

So Patricia Lott did what any good spouse would do. “I took my wife with me and she helped me out,” Lott said.

The fare card his wife gave him was demagnetized, Lott said, so he got a “special note” from the station manager so he and his wife could proceed to Metro Center, where she showed him how to go to the counter and turn in his demagnetized and used fare cards for a new one. (Special notes, it should be noted, are not just for important former members of Congress; that’s the way it works for everyone who has a demagnetized card in the in D.C. transit system.)

“I’m a man of the people now,” said Lott, who retired in December of last year, less than a year into serving a new six-year term.

Besides taking public transportation, the one-time Senate majority leader is learning how to pull out his wallet, which should certainly be a lot fatter these days after bolting from public service to rake in cash in the private sector.

“I haven’t paid for lunch in 30 years,” he joked. Breaux chimed in with an eye roll, saying, “Yeah, he’s learning how to pay for lunch.”

All together now: Boo-freaking-hoo.

Memo to Beltway GOP: If you are looking to repair your image with your conservative base, this is not the kind of press you want. Makes for great cable TV green-room small talk. Not so good for your beleaguered fund-raising efforts.